Two years from now, a proposed new Gateway Visitor Center will welcome people to the area, direct them to important sites and hopefully get them to stay and support the local economy.

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"It will be an economic development tool for us," state Sen. Roy J. McDonald, R-Saratoga, said. "This is one more attribute, one more reason to stop and see us."

Officials unveiled plans for the facility Friday. Groundbreaking is scheduled for next year, and the structure is expected to open in 2014 at 30 Ferry St., the site of the former Saratoga Town Hall.

The center is a project of the Historic Saratoga-Washington on the Hudson Partnership, which consists of 30 local municipalities and 15 non-government agencies.

The facility primarily will be paid for by grants, including one for $191,000 from the Capital Region Economic Development Council.

"This center will function as a true gateway to the area," council Executive Director Jessica Gabriel said.

Construction is expected to cost about $700,000, a price that's been lowered thanks to donated labor and materials.

Plans call for donating Saratoga's former Town Hall building to a nonprofit agency. One suggestion is that a group such as Habitat for Humanity or Rebuilding Together move the building and use it for offices or residential housing.

However, there has been no firm commitment and the building is still available to any group that might want it, said Tim Holmes, a Hudson Partnership official.

The new visitor center will be constructed next to the Old Champlain Canal and Fort Hardy Park, where British forces surrendered to Americans following the 1777 Battles of Saratoga.

The center will feature exhibits that tell the story of the region's history and culture, including its military, industrial and canalway history.